


out of love

by quitethesardonic



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, F/M, Harry Potter/Hermione Granger - Freeform, Heavy Angst, Minor Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Past Hermione Granger/Harry Potter, Romance, hermione granger/harry potter - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 09:47:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18689038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quitethesardonic/pseuds/quitethesardonic
Summary: Her cheeks twitched as she plastered another fake smile on her face, graciously thanking another well-wisher. She was exhausted, and she wanted to be done with the celebration.Hermione ought to feel guilty for thinking such a thing during her own wedding, but she couldn’t help it.“It’s just cold feet, darling,” Molly had assured her when she’d tried to back out earlier in the day.In all of her naivety, and in the aftermath of such a tragic war, Hermione had gone against her gut feeling and accepted Ron’s proposal. And now, she was Mrs. Hermione Granger-Weasley.She despised it.





	out of love

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Out of Love by Alessia Clare

Her cheeks twitched as she plastered another fake smile on her face, graciously thanking another well-wisher. She was exhausted, and she wanted to be done with the celebration. 

Hermione ought to feel guilty for thinking such a thing during her own wedding, but she couldn’t help it. 

“It’s just cold feet, darling,” Molly had assured her when she’d tried to back out earlier in the day.

In all of her naivety, and in the aftermath of such a tragic war, Hermione had gone against her gut feeling and accepted Ron’s proposal. And now, she was Mrs. Hermione Granger-Weasley.

She despised it.

“Penny for your thoughts, ‘Mione?” A soothing, baritone voice asked her. She glanced to her right and found her best friend smiling softly at her. 

Her heart felt like it could explode from happiness at the sight of him. 

“They’re worth more than that, Harry.” She teased.

His smile grew wider. “I have no doubt about that.” 

As the quartet began playing a waltz, Harry stepped out in front of Hermione and held out his hand. “May I have this dance?”

Her throat and heart constricted as she nodded. “Of course,” she whispered past the lump in her throat, gently placing her hand in his. 

She savored the warmth of his hand on hers, her breath hitching slightly as he pulled her close to him — closer than what should be acceptable for a married woman while dancing with a man who was most definitely not her husband.

“How are you holding up?” He whispered into her ear, his lips skimming the outer shell. Goosebumps spread across her body at the feel of him so close and she —

_ “Why are you crying again, Hermione?” He sighed as he sat down on the bed beside her and pulled her into his arms. _

_ “I just still can’t believe he left. He just aband-” _

_ She couldn’t finish the rest of the sentence. That Ron had left her when he was supposed to love her. At least, love her enough to fight past the Horcrux’s hold on him and stay. _

_ “He’s an idiot,” Harry said softly, pressing a kiss to her forehead.  _

_ Hermione shook her head. “ _ I’m  _ the idiot. I’m such an idiot to think that — after fourth year and how he was just so — and I just —“ _

_ “Hush, Hermione,” Harry chided as she began sobbing again, rearranging her so that she was in his lap and resting her head on his collarbone. He rubbed soothing circles onto her back and held one of her hands in his own until she calmed down. _

_ Tentatively, Hermione laid a kiss on his collarbone. When he didn’t react, she began kissing up his neck before he jerked away.  _

_ “What are you doing?” He questioned, his voice tight as his hand tensed.  _

_ “I don’t want to be alone, and I’m over being sad about him.”  _

_ “You’re not in the right state of mind, ‘Mione, I just can’t —“ _

_ She cut him off with a kiss, twisting in his lap until she straddled him. “I know what I want, Harry, and right now, that’s you.”  _

“‘Mione?” 

Hermione jerked in Harry’s arms. “I’m sorry.”

He gave her an odd look before shaking his head. “Don’t be sorry, Hermione. I’m sure you’re nervous about tonight.” 

Her head swayed to the side. “Don’t. I don’t want to talk about that.”

There was a pause as Harry spun her away from him.

“Okay,” he responded when he pulled her back in and gave her a tight smile.

As the bride of the wedding, Hermione should have danced with the groom more, but she couldn’t remove herself from the comfort of her best friend’s arms. She stared up and took him in, from his bright, emerald eyes and his messy, raven-colored hair, and her heart shattered. 

Something must have shown on her face because he gave her a worried look. “Is everything okay?” 

Her lower lip trembled as she shook her head. 

“Come on,” he gently said and led her to a more secluded area before sitting her down.

“What’s wrong, Hermione?”

She looked at him again and blurted the words out before she could stop herself.

“When did you fall out of love with me? Were you ever even in love with me?” 

His eyes widened, and his mouth went slack. “I -- what?” 

Hermione swallowed past the hurt and the heartbreak and repeated herself. 

Harry sighed softly as he ran his hands through his hair, standing up and turning his back away from her. 

“Harry?” 

He turned around, and his face was full of raw pain. “I never did, ‘Mione. I --  _ fuck _ \-- I’ve always been in love with you.” 

“Don’t lie to me!” She demanded. “You just cut me off, you pretended everything we had didn’t exist! I’m not stupid.”

He gave her an incredulous look and scoffed. “Because you were --  _ are _ \-- in love with Ron!” He threw his hands up in the air. “You were in love with him, and he came back! Was I supposed to come between the two of you because of my selfish feelings?” 

Hermione shook her head vigorously. “We were alone for five months before Ron returned, Harry, and I thought I made my feelings about us very clear. I thought I made it clear that I love you.” 

“ _ You are in love with my other best friend, Hermione!  _ I knew that I was just a replacement until Ron returned.” He basically yelled at her, his chest heaving. “What did you want from me?” 

“You!” She yelled right back. “I want  _ you _ . I fell in love with you while he was gone, Harry, and when he returned and you pretended that nothing had happened between us, I thought it just meant that you had been entertaining me because you felt sorry for me.” 

They both stared at each other, puffs of air filling the space between them in the crisp night. Hermione had never felt so short-sighted in her life. She’d just committed one of the biggest mistakes, and it could have all been remedied if she had just  _ talked _ to Harry. 

Closing the distance between them, Hermione spoke, “Harry -- I --” 

“Hermione? Harry? What are the two of you doing out here?” 

They turned to find Ginny looking at them. 

“Everyone’s waiting for you to cut the cake, Hermione. Is everything okay?” 

Hermione cleared her throat. “Yes, I just had to double check that Harry remembered how to take care of Crookshanks while I’m away on my honeymoon.” 

Ginny didn’t look like she believed Hermione who turned to Harry.

“Three scoops of his food,” he said solemnly. Hermione sighed before she walked away and left the two of them in the garden, her heart littered somewhere among the rose bushes. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my lovely beta, weestarmeggie. Any other mistakes are of my own. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy.


End file.
